Art And Propaganda: Public Opinion

Art and Propaganda Student Name Course Instructor Date Since time immemorial, individuals especially those in a position of power have used manipulation to control people. The desire to influence public opinion in a particular direction led to the use of different methods, among them propaganda. At its most basic, propaganda refers to an attempt to manipulate the beliefs and actions of other thorough symbols like music, paintings, and designs among others. In other words, it seeks to influence public opinion to support a certain cause. Propaganda does is not exclusively negative as it may appear. It often entails a heavy emphasis on the benefits of an opinion, while at the same time subduing any form of opposition.[Baines, Paul R., and NICHOLAS J. O'SHAUGHNESSY. "Political marketing and propaganda: Uses, abuses, misuses." (2014): 1-18.] [Walton, Douglas. "What is propaganda, and what exactly is wrong with it." Public Affairs Quarterly 11, no. 4 (1997): 383-413.] Propaganda is a powerful tool for attaining power. For instance, the Nazi party ascended into power by advocating that it could rescue the country from the economic challenges, which it purported was a result of the Jews stealing jobs from the Germans. Since the Nazis advocated that the Jews were to blame for the economic problems facing the country, a majority of the Germans supported the Holocaust. This example demonstrates how propaganda works by promoting a particular thought, while simultaneously downplaying the big picture. For instance, in the U.S., joining the military is celebrated as an act of heroism and a patriotic thing to do. While this is true, such a view ignores the violent realities of war. Propaganda works by tapping into the emotions of the target audience. This can be through images, slogans or the selective utilization of information. Propaganda also thrives through the censorship of facts. When the government controls the media, it can easily dictate the kind of information that should reach out to the public. Propaganda is closely related to rumors, but propaganda has an intent behind it, which is to sway the opinion of the audience towards a particular direction.[Buşu, Oprea-Valentin, Mirela Teodorescu, and Daniela Gîfu. "Communicational positive propaganda in democracy." International Letters of Socialand Humanistic Sciences (ILSHS) 27 (2014): 82-93.] [Funke, Manuel, Moritz Schularick, Christoph Trebesch, Francesco D'Acunto, Marcel Prokopczuk, Michael Weber, Hans-Joachim Voth et al. "How failing banks paved Hitler's path to power: Financial crisis and right-wing extremism in Germany, 1931-33."] [Andersen, Robin. "Act of Valor: Celebrating and Denying the Brutalities of an Endless and Global US War." Democratic Communiqué 26, no. 2 (2014): 22.] [Chen, Yuyu, and David Y. Yang. "The impact of media censorship: Evidence from a field experiment in China." (2018).] Art has been a critical tool in the spread of propaganda. There is no doubt that art is essential to societies. When examining any form of art, individuals might in the first place be attracted to the appearance of the work. Nonetheless, it is important to appreciate that not all art is seeks to display beauty. Art sometimes exists to pass important information and provokes profound...